Michael Lee “Mike” Hockenberry, 49, of Chicora, the Village of North Oakland, went to be with the Lord Thursday afternoon, January 2, 2020 at Good Samaritan Hospice in Cabot surrounded by his family and friends following a courageous battle with cancer.
Michael was born in Butler on September 16, 1970. He was the son of Delores McCandless Hockenberry of Butler and the late Robert C. Hockenberry Sr.
Mike attended school in Butler. Mike had a strong work ethic and had been employed for more than 16 years with Robert Hodgkiss Concrete. At the time of his passing, Mike had been employed for the past 10 years by Team Industrial Services in Butler as a Heat Treatment Technician. Mike was well respected among his fellow workers and formed a “brotherhood” with many of them as he traveled and worked throughout the United States and Canada.
Mike enjoyed hunting and fishing, spending time with his German shepherds, “Tank and Dozzer”, going to drag races in Columbus, and the company of “the love of his life”, Karen E. Texter Hockenberry, whom he married in Chicora on September 26, 1998. The couple had been together for more than 27 years.
Mike was a member of the Loyal Order of the Moose in Chicora and enjoyed a cold beer with his many friends at the Moose and Millerstown Inn.
In addition to his wife and mother, Mike is survived by two sisters, Gloria Rupert and her husband, Charles, of Tennessee, and Deborah Swartzlander of Butler, his brothers-in-law, Jeff Texter and his wife, Barb, of Foxburg and Stanley Texter Jr. and his wife, Dianne, of Akron, OH; a sister-in-law, Cathy King and her husband, Gail, of Clarion; and close friends, Robert “Skunk” Hodgkiss and his wife, Darlene, of Butler, as well as a number of nieces, nephews, cousins, and many friends.
In addition to his father, Michael was preceded in death by two brothers, Robert C. Hockenberry Jr. and Bruce E. Hockenberry.
Friends will be receive at the Hile Funeral Home of Chicora, 339 Chicora Fenelton Rd., Chicora, from 12 -3 and 6 – 9 p.m. Sunday. A funeral service will be held at 12:00 Noon Monday from the funeral home with the Rev. Floyd H. Barnhart, a United Methodist pastor, officiating. Interment will be in St. Joseph Cemetery in The Village of North Oakland. The Loyal Order of Moose will conduct a service for their departed brother Sunday at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to Mooseheart at www.mooseheart.org. Online condolences may be sent by visiting www.hilefh.com.